Palo Alto-based PicoJool has raised $27.5 million in a Series A round to scale its optical connectivity technology for AI data centers. The round was led by Socratic Partners, the venture capital firm led by former NXP Semiconductor CEO Rick Clemmer, with Hudson River Trading also participating. The Series A follows an earlier seed round led by Playground Global, Pat Gelsinger's VC firm, bringing the company's total funding to $39.5 million.
PicoJool is developing high-speed VCSEL (vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser) chips and modules for high-bandwidth use in AI infrastructure. Its initial product line, targeting scale-up links, was unveiled in the summer and is capable of supporting more than 37 gigahertz of bandwidth. The startup is also working on microVCSEL products, which are smaller and use far less power than conventional wire-bonded counterparts. The company is led by CEO Al Yuen, who previously spent more than a decade running R&D; development of VCSELs for data centers and AI clusters at Nvidia-backed Lumentum, and earlier served as general manager of Coherent's Semiconductor business.
The funding is intended to support expansion of facilities in both the US and Taiwan, as well as growth of R&D;, sales, and marketing teams. PicoJool is positioning its products to serve both hyperscalers and data center operators. Gelsinger, who was ousted from Intel in late 2024, said the company "brings together breakthrough VCSEL performance, deep systems expertise and a manufacturing base capable of supporting tremendous scale." CEO Yuen stated that reaching 200G per lane proved the performance is there, and that the focus now is execution, including qualifying products with customers and moving from chip-level VCSELs and microVCSELs into active optical cable and near-packaged optics modules.
What remains unknown is whether PicoJool can convert its technical milestone into commercial traction against established players. The startup is betting on gallium arsenide VCSELs, which it argues are far from supply chain constrained compared to co-packaged optics and near-packaged optics, and is already working with GaAs foundries like WIN Semiconductor. However, rivals including Coherent and Lumentum are also pursuing VCSELs for AI interconnectivity, and a Scotland-based startup is developing photonic crystal surface-emitting lasers that it claims offer improved beam quality and higher-power outputs. The single source does not disclose customer commitments, production timelines, or revenue expectations.